System and method for distributed computing in non-volatile memory

ABSTRACT

A system and method are disclosed for incorporating mathematical and/or logical functionality within a memory system (such as a solid state drive (SSD)). The mathematical and/or logical functionality may comprise an arithmetic logic unit (ALU). The ALU may be resident in one or both of flash memory chips or the SSD controller. When resident in the flash memory chips, a single ALU or multiple ALUs may be used. For example, a single ALU may be assigned to one, some, or each block of flash memory within the flash memory chip. As another example, an ALU may be assigned to a sub-block construct, such as to each bit line in the block. Having ALUs resident in the SSD enables more processing to be performed within the SSD and reduces the need to transmit data outside of the SSD for processing.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/671,336,which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/290,305 (nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,003,109), both of which are incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates generally to managing data in a system. Morespecifically, this application relates to distributing computing in anon-volatile memory.

BACKGROUND

Data storage devices may take one of several forms. One form is a harddisk drive (HDD), in which data is stored on disks coated with magneticmaterial. Typically, an HDD includes multiple rapidly rotating diskswith magnetic heads arranged on a moving actuator arm to read data fromand write data to the disk surfaces. Another form of the data storagedevice is a solid state drive (SSD). In contrast to using disks in aHDD, an SSD uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data. An SSD canuse electronic interfaces compatible with traditional block input/output(I/O) of HDD. In this regard, an SSD may easily replace an HDD in commonapplications.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A system and method are disclosed for incorporating mathematical and/orlogical functionality within a memory system (such as a solid statedrive (SSD)). The mathematical and/or logical functionality may comprisean arithmetic logic unit (ALU). The ALU may be resident in various partsof the memory system. In an SSD, which may include an SSD controller andone or a plurality of memory chips, the ALU(s) may reside in one or bothof flash memory chip(s) or the SSD controller. When resident in theflash memory chips, a single ALU or multiple ALUs may be used. Forexample, a single ALU may be assigned to one, some, or each block offlash memory within the flash memory chip. As another example, an ALUmay be assigned to a sub-block construct, such as to each bit line inthe block. Having ALUs resident in the memory system, such as the SSD,enables more processing to be performed within the SSD and reduces theneed to transmit data outside of the SSD for processing. Further, havingALUs resident in the memory system, such as the SSD, enables the memorysystem to perform various functions, such as database functions, imageprocessing functions, and/or file system functions.

According to a first aspect, a solid state drive (SSD) comprising memoryis disclosed. The SSD includes: an interface configured to communicatewith a host device; and a controller in communication with the interfacewith the controller comprising an arithmetic logic unit (ALU). Thecontroller is configured to: receive a command from the host device; inresponse to receiving the command, use the ALU in order to generate oneor more results; and send at least a part of the one or more results oran indication of the one or more results to the host device.

In a second aspect, a method for an electronic integrated circuit tocommunicate with one of multiple hosts is disclosed. The methodincludes: communicating, via a first set of electrical contacts using ahost protocol, with a first host, the electronic integrated circuitembedded within the first host, the first set of electrical contacts onan exterior of a package of the electronic integrated circuit; receivingone or more signals to select the second set of electrical contacts fortesting of at least a part of the electronic integrated circuit, thesecond set of electrical contacts on the exterior of the package of theelectronic integrated circuit; and based on the one or more signalsreceived, switching, using a host interface switch, from communicatingwith some or all of the first set of electrical contacts andcommunicating with some or all of the second set of electrical contactsusing the host protocol in order for the second host to test the atleast a part of the electronic integrated circuit.

In a third aspect, a memory integrated circuit chip configured for usein a solid state drive (SSD) is disclosed. The memory integrated circuitchip includes: an interface configured to communicate with an SSDcontroller for the SSD; a memory; and a controller in communication withthe interface and the memory. The controller comprises an arithmeticlogic unit (ALU) and is configured to: receive a command from the SSDcontroller; in response to receiving the command, use the ALU in orderto generate one or more results; and send at least a part of the one ormore results or an indication of the one or more results to the SSDcontroller.

In a fourth aspect, a method for operating a memory integrated circuitchip configured for use in a solid state drive (SSD) is provided. Themethod includes: receiving a command from an SSD controller of the SSDvia an interface; in response to receiving the command, using anarithmetic logic unit (ALU) in order to generate one or more results,the ALU resident in the memory integrated circuit chip; and send atleast a part of the one or more results or an indication of the one ormore results to the SSD controller.

In a fifth aspect, a memory integrated circuit chip configured for usein a solid state drive (SSD) is disclosed. The memory integrated circuitchip includes: an interface configured to communicate with an SSDcontroller for the SSD; a memory; and a controller in communication withthe interface and the memory. The controller comprises mathematicalfunctionality or logic functionality, the logic functionality comprisingXOR functionality and at least one of AND functionality or ORfunctionality. The controller is configured to: receive a command fromthe SSD controller; in response to receiving the command, use themathematical functionality or logic functionality in order to generateone or more results; and send at least a part of the one or more resultsor an indication of the one or more results to the SSD controller. Morespecifically, the memory integrated circuit chip may include thecontroller that comprises mathematical functionality and logicfunctionality, with the logic functionality comprising XORfunctionality, AND functionality and OR functionality.

Other features and advantages will become apparent upon review of thefollowing drawings, detailed description and claims. Additionally, otherembodiments are disclosed, and each of the embodiments can be used aloneor together in combination. The embodiments will now be described withreference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The system may be better understood with reference to the followingdrawings and description. In the figures, like reference numeralsdesignate corresponding parts throughout the different views.

FIG. 1 illustrates a host connected with a memory device.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an SSD.

FIG. 3A illustrates a first example of a block diagram of a flash memorychip controller.

FIGS. 3B-C illustrate examples of block diagrams of one or more ALUsassigned to a block in the flash memory array.

FIG. 3D is an example ALUs assigned to flash memory banks.

FIG. 3E illustrates a first example of a block diagram of an SSDcontroller chip.

FIGS. 4A-B illustrates a second example of block diagrams of a flashmemory chip controller and an SSD controller chip, respectively.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of third example of an SSD controllerchip.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart of actions performed by a flash memorychip controller.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart of actions performed by the SSDcontroller chip.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A host device may include one or more peripheral devices. The peripheraldevice may be in communication with (such as connected to) the hostdevice, expanding the functionality of the host device. One type ofperipheral device is a storage device, which increases the storagecapacity of the host device thereby increasing the functionality of thehost device. As discussed in more detail below, the storage device maycomprise a solid state drive (SSD) in a first embodiment or a flashdrive in a second embodiment.

Typically, the host device may perform one or more functions. Asdiscussed in more detail below, the functions may include databasefunctions, image processing functions, and/or file system functions. Thelisted functions are merely for illustration purposes. Other functionsare contemplated. In one aspect of the invention, some or all of afunction is performed in the storage device. In this regard, theperformance of part (or all) of the function may be distributed to thestorage device.

In one embodiment, a function (or a set of functions) may be performedby the storage device. In one aspect, only one part of the storagedevice performs the function (or the set of functions). As discussed inmore detail below, the SSD includes an SSD controller chip and one ormore flash memory chips. In one implementation, the flash memory chip(such as the controller within the flash memory chip) performs thefunction (or the set of functions). As another implementation, the SSDcontroller chip (such as the controller within the SSD controller chip)performs the function (or the set of functions). In another aspect,multiple parts of the storage device may perform a function (or a set offunctions). As discussed in more detail below, a single function may bedivided into multiple sub-functions, with one part of the storage device(such as the SSD controller chip) performing one sub-function andanother part of the storage device (such as the flash memory chip)performing another sub-function.

In an alternate embodiment, a plurality of functions may be divided suchthat a first subset of functions are performed by the storage device anda second subset of functions are performed by the host device. Forexample, one set of functions relates to file system management, asdiscussed below. A first subset of functions relating to file systemmanagement (such as lower complexity file system functions) may beperformed by the storage device and a second subset of functionsrelating to file system management (such as higher complexity filesystem functions) may be performed by the host device. In anotherembodiment, a single function may be divided into a first sub-functionand a second sub-function, with the first sub-function being performedby the storage device and the second sub-function being performed by thehost device. For example, one function is to process an image. Morespecifically, image processing may include a first image processing stepand a second image processing step. As discussed in more detail below,the storage device (such as the controller within the flash memory chipand/or the SSD controller chip) may perform the first image processingstep, and send the results to the host device in order for the hostdevice to perform the second image processing step on the results. Instill another embodiment, a plurality of functions, typically performedby the host device, may all be performed by the storage device.

In order to perform part (or all) of the function typically performed bythe host device, the storage device may include additional logic and/orcomputing capability. In one embodiment, the storage device includesmathematical computational functionality and/or logic functionality. Forexample, the mathematical computation functionality may comprisearithmetic and/or algebraic computation functionality (e.g., addition,subtraction, multiplication, division, etc.). As another example, thelogic functionality may comprise any one or any multiple combination(including all) of the following logical operations: AND, NAND, OR, NOR,XOR, NOT, etc. In this regard, the storage device may performmathematical computational operations and/or logic operations with themathematical computational functionality and/or logic functionality,respectively. The mathematical computational operations and/or logicoperations performed by the storage device may be used to perform thefunctions discussed above, such as the database functions, imageprocessing functions, and/or file system functions. As discussed in moredetail below, a particular function (such as a database function) may becomposed of one or more mathematical computational operations and/orlogic operations.

The mathematical computational operations and/or logic operations, usingmathematical computational functionality and/or logic functionality, maybe performed by the storage device using one or more components. In oneembodiment, the storage device includes an arithmetic logic unit (ALU).As discussed in more detail below, the ALU is configured to performinteger arithmetic and logical operations (e.g., AND, NAND, OR, NOR,XOR, NOT). In an alternate embodiment, the storage device may include afloating point unit (FPU), which may be configured to performnon-integer calculations, such as division operations, which maygenerate a fraction, or a “floating point” number. In still an alternateembodiment, the storage device may include both an ALU and an FPU.

As discussed above, in one embodiment, one type of storage device is asolid state drive (SSD). The SSD may include an SSD controller andmemory to store the data within the SSD (e.g., NAND flash non-volatilememory or DRAM volatile memory). The SSD controller may be embodied onan integrated circuit chip and the memory, such as the flashnon-volatile memory, may be embodied on one or more integrated circuitmemory chips separate from the SSD controller integrated circuit chip.In an alternate embodiment, another type of storage device is a flashdrive.

In one embodiment, the mathematical computational functionality and/orlogic functionality may reside in the integrated circuit memory chips.For example, a plurality of integrated circuit memory chips maycommunicate with an SSD controller. One, some, or all of the pluralityof integrated circuit memory may include an ALU, an FPU, or an ALU/FPU.The flash memory chips may thus perform computation or logic operationsat the request of the host system. In this regard, computing may bedistributed from the host system to the storage device, such as to theintegrated circuit memory chips on the SSD. Further, the computing bythe integrated circuit memory chips may be performed more quickly sincethe data need not be sent outside of the integrated circuit memory chipsfor processing and since the processing may be performed in parallel(e.g., within the integrated circuit memory chips).

In an alternate embodiment, the mathematical computational functionalityand/or logic functionality may reside in the SDD controller integratedcircuit chip. In still an alternate embodiment, the mathematicalcomputational functionality and/or logic functionality may reside in theSDD controller integrated circuit chip and one, some, or all of theplurality of integrated circuit memory chips.

FIG. 1 illustrates a host system 100 and a memory system 102. The hostsystem 100 may comprise any type of host device, such as a stationarycomputer system (e.g., a desktop computer) or a mobile computer system(e.g., a laptop computer, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or the like).

The host system 100 of FIG. 1 may be viewed as having two major parts,insofar as the memory system 102 is concerned, made up of a combinationof circuitry and software. They are an applications portion 108 and adriver portion 110 that interfaces with the memory system 102. In adesktop computer, laptop computer, smartphone, tablet computer, forexamples, the applications portion 110 may include a processor (e.g., aCPU) 112 running word processing, graphics, control or other popularapplication software, as well as the file system 114 for managing dataon the host system 100. In a camera, cellular telephone or other hostsystem that is primarily dedicated to performing a single set offunctions, the applications portion 108 includes the software thatoperates the camera to take and store pictures, the cellular telephoneto make and receive calls, and the like.

The memory system 102 may be flash memory embedded within the host, suchas in the form of an SSD installed in the host system with mating parts104 and 106 connecting the host system 100 to the SSD. Alternatively,the memory system 102 may be in the form of a card that is removablyconnected to the host system 100 through mating parts 104 and 106 of amechanical and electrical connector. A flash memory configured for useas an internal or embedded SSD drive may look similar to the schematicof FIG. 1, with the primary difference being the location of the memorysystem 102 internal to the host system 100. An SSD may be in the form ofdiscrete modules that are drop-in replacements for rotating magneticdisk drives.

Further, in one embodiment, the memory, such as the flash memory, maycomprise two-dimensional memory. In an alternate embodiment, the memorymay comprise three-dimensional memory. In still an alternate embodiment,the memory may comprise a combination of two-dimensional memory andthree-dimensional memory.

The memory system 102 of FIG. 1 may comprise a semiconductor memorydevice and include non-volatile memory, such as one or more memory chips116, and a memory system controller 118. In an alternate embodiment, thememory system 102 may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. Thememory system controller 118 interfaces with the host system 100, towhich the memory system 102 is connected for passing data back andforth, and controls memory chips 116.

The host system 100 may communicate with the memory system for multiplepurposes. One purpose is for the host system 102 to store data on and/orread data from the memory system. For example, the host system 100 maysend data to the memory system 102 for storage on the one or more memorychips 116 of the memory system 102. As another example, the host system100 may request data from the memory system 102 that is stored on theone or more memory chips 116. When communicating with the memory system,the host system 100 may send logical addresses of data, such as in theform of a range of logical block addresses (LBAs). The memory systemcontroller 118 may then convert the LBAs, in one or more steps, to theactual physical addresses on the memory chips 116. The memory systemcontroller 118 may perform a logical address-to-actual physical addressconversion in order to map to the actual physical addresses. Forexample, the LBAs from the host system 100 may be mapped to memorysystem internal logical addresses, and the memory system internallogical addresses are mapped to the actual physical addresses. Asanother example, the LBAs from the host system 100 may be mappeddirectly to the actual physical addresses.

FIG. 1 illustrates that the memory chips 116 may include a plurality ofmemory chips, such as 0 to N chips, where N is an integer number. Eachof the memory chips within memory chips 116 may be the same as oneanother (as illustrated in FIG. 1), or may be different. For example,memory chip 0 (120) may include memory chip 0 controller (122) and flashmemory array (124). Likewise, memory chip N (126) may include memorychip N controller (128) and flash memory array (130).

As discussed above, a part of the memory system 102 may includemathematical computational functionality and/or logic functionality. Inone embodiment, the mathematical computational functionality and/orlogic functionality may reside in a part of the memory chips 116, suchas one, some, or all of memory chips (e.g., in memory chip 0 controller122 and memory chip N controller 128). In an alternate embodiment, themathematical computational functionality and/or logic functionality mayreside in memory system controller 118. In still an alternateembodiment, the mathematical computational functionality and/or logicfunctionality may reside in a part of the memory chips 116, such as inmemory chip 0 controller 122 and memory chip N controller 128, and inmemory system controller 118.

As discussed above, one type of memory system 102 is an SSD. An exampleof a block diagram of an SSD 200 is illustrated in FIG. 2. An example ofan SSD is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0113525,incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. SSD 200 includes SSDcontroller chip 202. As illustrated in FIG. 2, SSD controller chip 202includes host system interface 202, which may comprise circuitry and/orsoftware in order to communicate with the host system 100.Alternatively, host system interface 202 may be external to SSDcontroller chip 202. SSD controller chip 202 further includes SSDcontroller circuitry 206 that is configured to perform one or morefunctions, including any one, any combination, or all of the following:error correction; wear leveling; bad block mapping; read scrubbing andread disturb management; read and write caching; garbage collection; andencryption. As discussed in more detail below, in one embodiment, SSDcontroller chip 204 may include additional functionality. The additionalfunctionality in SSD controller chip 204 may be to assist one, some, orall of the flash memory chips to perform mathematical computationalfunctionality and/or logic functionality, such as by routing commandsreceived from the host system to the flash memory chips in order for theflash memory chips to perform mathematical computational functionalityand/or logic functionality. In an alternate embodiment, the additionalfunctionality in SSD controller chip 204 may comprise mathematicalcomputational functionality and/or logic functionality to performfunctions in addition to those described above.

SSD 200 further includes one or more flash memory chips, such as flashmemory chip 0 (210) to flash memory chip N (216). Flash memory chip 0(210) may include flash memory chip 0 controller (212) and flash memoryarray 214. Likewise, flash memory chip N (216) may include flash memorychip N controller (218) and flash memory array 220. In one embodiment,the flash memory array 214 and 220 comprises flash memory cells (such assingle level cells and/or multi-level cells). In an alternateembodiment, the flash memory array 214 and 220 consists of flash memorycells without any computational functionality. As discussed in moredetail below, in one embodiment, one, some, or all of the flash memorychips, such as flash memory chip 0 (210) and flash memory chip N (216),may include mathematical computational functionality and/or logicfunctionality.

As discussed above, the mathematical computational functionality and/orlogic functionality may reside in different parts of the storage device.As discussed in more detail below, FIGS. 3A-E illustrate that themathematical computational functionality and/or logic functionalityreside within the SSD only in the flash memory chip controller. FIGS.4A-B illustrate that the mathematical computational functionality and/orlogic functionality reside within the SSD in both the flash memory chipcontroller and the SSD controller chip. FIG. 5 illustrates that themathematical computational functionality and/or logic functionalitywithin the SSD only reside in the SSD controller chip. The examples ofwhere the mathematical computational functionality and/or logicfunctionality may reside within the SSD are for illustration purposes.Other examples are contemplated.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram of flash memory chip controller 300. Asdiscussed above, a part of the flash memory chip, such as flash memorychip controller 300, may generally perform mathematical operations andelementary functions. The SSD controller chip 392 may assist the flashmemory chip controller 300 to perform mathematical operations andelementary functions, as discussed below with respect to FIG. 3E.

The mathematical operations may include unary operations or binaryoperations. Unary operations involve only one value, such as negationand trigonometric functions. Binary operations take two values, andinclude, for example, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division,exponentiation, and remainder. In one embodiment, in addition tomathematical operations, the flash memory chip may perform one or morelogical operations, as discussed in more detail below. In an alternateembodiment, instead of performing mathematical operations, the flashmemory chip may perform one or more logical operations.

Flash memory chip controller 300 may comprise an expanded block diagramof flash memory chip 0 controller (212) or flash memory chip Ncontroller (218) depicted in FIG. 2. Flash memory chip controller 300includes SSD controller interface 302 for communicating, for example,with SSD controller chip 202.

Flash memory chip controller 300 further includes flash memory chipprocessor 304. Flash memory chip processor 304 may comprise amicroprocessor, a microcontroller, an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array, a logical digitalcircuit, or other now known or later developed logical processingcapability. Flash memory chip processor 304 may include one or moreprocessing capabilities, such as a comparator function. As illustratedin FIG. 3A, flash memory chip processor 304 includes differentfunctionality, such as ALU 306, counter 308, and FPU 310.

In one embodiment, any one, any combination, or all of ALU 306, counter308, and FPU 310 is present in flash memory chip processor 304. Forexample, ALU 306, without counter 308 and FPU 310, may be included inflash memory chip processor 304. As another example, ALU 306 and counter308, without FPU 310, may be included in flash memory chip processor304.

FIG. 3A further includes memory 312. Memory 312 may include volatilememory, such as random access memory (RAM), and/or non-volatile memory.Processor executable instructions, which may be executed by flash memorychip processor 304, may be stored in memory 312. Examples of processorexecutable instructions include database functions software 314, imageprocessing software 316, and file system software 314. Discussed beloware various functions, including file system functions, image processingfunctions, and database functions, which may be implemented usingdatabase functions software 314, image processing software 316, and filesystem software 314, respectively.

FIG. 3A depicts that memory 312 is included as part of flash memory chipcontroller 300. In this regard, memory 312 may be dedicated tooperations of flash memory chip controller 300. Alternatively, memory312 may be part of flash memory (such as flash memory array 214 or flashmemory array 220). Thus, flash memory chip controller 300 maydynamically assign a part of flash memory (such as flash memory array214 or flash memory array 220) for operations related to flash memorychip controller 300, such as memory used for mathematical computationalfunctionality and logic functionality, or assign the part of flashmemory for data storage. In still an alternate embodiment, memory 312may include a part that is dedicated for operations of flash memory chipcontroller 300, such as memory for storing software for execution byflash memory chip controller 300, and a part that is dynamicallyassigned.

FIG. 3A shows several examples of the mathematical computationalfunctionality and logic functionality, including ALU 306, counter 308,and FPU 310, as being a part of the flash memory chip controller 300. Inone embodiment, ALU 306, as depicted in FIG. 3A, is included as part offlash memory chip processor 304. For example, ALU 306 may be part of theflash memory chip processor 304, wherein flash memory chip processor 304may execute different software (which may be stored in memory 312) inorder to perform the functionality of ALU 306. In an alternateembodiment, ALU 306 may be an electronic component separate from and incommunication with flash memory chip processor 304. In eitherembodiment, the ALU may be included and reside in the flash memory chipcontroller. Inputs and outputs may flow along an electronic path, suchas a bus.

As discussed above, ALU 306 may perform various operations, such aslogical operations (e.g., any one, any combination, or all of thefollowing: AND, OR, NOT, XOR, NOR, NAND); bit-shifting operations (e.g.,shifting the positions of the bits by a certain number of places to theright or left, which may be considered a multiplication operation); andarithmetic operations (e.g., addition and subtraction).

In one embodiment, ALU 306 may be divided into two units, including anarithmetic unit (AU) and a logic unit (LU). In an alternate embodiment,ALU 306 is composed of a single unit. Further, flash memory chipcontroller 300 may include one or more ALUs. For example, in oneembodiment, flash memory chip processor 304 may include a single ALU. Inan alternate embodiment, the flash memory chip processor 304 may includemultiple ALUs.

The input to the ALU may comprise an instruction word (e.g., a machineinstruction word) that contains an operation code (e.g., an “op code”),one or more operands, and potentially a format code. As discussed inmore detail below, the ALU may receive various commands. The commandsmay be sent from the host system via the SSD controller. In response toreceiving the command, the flash memory chip controller may determine toperform one or more mathematical and/or logic operations. As discussedabove, the one or more mathematical and/or logic operations areperformed for the purpose of carrying out functions, such as imageprocessing, database functions, and file system functions. In thisregard, the command may be indicative of a database command, an imageprocessing command, or a file system command. Other commands arecontemplated. Thus, different instruction words may be used for thevarious operations.

The command may include an operation code. The operation code mayindicate to the ALU what function to perform and the operands to use inthe operation. For example, two operands may be added together orcompared logically. The output may comprise a result that is placed in apart of flash memory, such as part of flash memory designated as astorage register and settings that indicate whether the function wasperformed successfully.

As discussed above, memory in the flash memory chip may be used for ALUoperations including storage places for input operands, operands thatare being added, the accumulated result (stored in an accumulator), andshifted results. In the embodiment where flash memory chip controller300 includes a dedicated ALU, the flow of bits and the operationsperformed on them in the subunits of the ALU may be controlled by gatedcircuits. The gates in these circuits may be controlled by a sequencelogic unit that uses a particular algorithm or sequence for eachoperation code. In the arithmetic unit, multiplication may be performedby a series of adding or subtracting and shifting operations. Further,negative numbers may be represented in the ALU in several ways. In thelogic unit, one of a plurality of possible logic operations may beperformed, such as comparing two operands and identifying where bits donot match.

Counter 308 may further be used in order to perform various functions,such as file system functions, image processing functions, and databasefunctions. Counter 308 may be implemented using register-type circuits,such as a flip-flop. Different counters may be used including, but notlimited to: asynchronous counter; synchronous counter; decade counter;up/down counter (which counts both up and down under command of acontrol input); ring counter; Johnson counter; etc. Similar to ALU,counter 308 may be embodied in dedicated hardware (such as flip-flops)or may be embodied in software executed on flash memory chip processor304.

FPU 310 is configured to carry out operations, such as mathematicaloperations, on floating point numbers. Mathematical operations include,but are not limited to, division, square root, bitshifting, andtranscendental functions (such as exponential or trigonometriccalculations). Similar to ALU 306, FPU 310, as depicted in FIG. 3A, isincluded as part of flash memory chip processor 304. Thus, FPU 310 maybe part of the flash memory chip processor 304, wherein flash memorychip processor 304 may execute different software (which may be storedin memory 312) in order to perform the functionality of FPU 310. In analternate embodiment, FPU 310 may be an electronic component separatefrom and in communication with flash memory chip processor 304. Inputsand outputs may flow along an electronic path, such as a bus. Graphicsapplications, which is an example of image processing discussed below,may use FPU 310.

The mathematical computational functionality and logic functionalityembodied in the flash memory chip controller 300 enables the flashmemory chip controller 300 to perform a variety of functions. Examplesof functions include, but are not limited to: database functions, imageprocessing functions, and file system functions. As shown in FIG. 3A,flash memory chip controller 300 may perform database functions, imageprocessing functions, and file system functions by using databasefunctions software 314, image processing software 316, and file systemsoftware 314, respectively.

For example, the mathematical computational functionality and logicfunctionality (such as ALU 306) embodied in the flash memory chipcontroller 300 may be used with the comparator in the flash memory chipprocessor 304. In one implementation, a pattern stored within the flashmemory chip, such as stored at the data cache of flash memory and a pageis read and comparison is done using the comparator.

One application, discussed below in more detail, is to load one or morepages into a cache, such as a dynamic data cache (DDC) and performmathematical and/or logic functionality on part or all of the loadedpages. For example, plane1 may be loaded into dynamic data cache 1(DDC1) and plane 2 may be loaded into dynamic data cache 2 (DDC2). DDC1and DDC2 may be considered operand registers, which may feed into anALU. The ALU perform one or more operations, such as +, sign, *, shift,and other operations. The result of performing the ALU operation on theoperand registers may be routed to a data cache. The data in the datacache may then be copied onto the flash memory chip to another plane. Inthis regard, data on plane1 and plane2 may be algebraically manipulatedand the result is stored in plane3. All these operations may be donewithin the flash memory chip without moving the data outside of theflash memory chip, and may be done in a page wide format.

The results of the mathematical and/or logic functionality may be storedwithin the flash memory chip. In one embodiment, the flash memory chipmay have a dedicate memory for storing the results. In an alternateembodiment, the flash memory chip may not have a dedicated memory spacefor storing the results, and may dynamically assign an area for storingthe results. In this regard, the flash memory chip controller 300 maypartition a part of memory within the flash memory chip, such as inflash memory (e.g., within flash memory array 214 or flash memory array220) in order to have an input bank and an output bank. In anembodiment, the computed results may be stored in hybrid memory, such asmixing NAND flash memory with phase change memory (PCM). Alternatively,the computed results may be stored solely in NAND flash memory.

Database Functions

Part of the flash memory chip, such as flash memory chip controller 300,may perform one or more database functions in order to manage datastored in the flash memory. For example, flash memory chip 0 controller212 may manage data stored in flash memory array 214 stored on flashmemory chip 0 (210). Alternatively, flash memory chip 0 controller 212may manage data stored in flash memory on stored on different chip, suchas flash memory array 220 stored on flash memory chip N (216).

In this regard, the flash memory chip controller 300 may perform avariety of database functions, such as: schema search; insertion;deletion; append; and other database functions. As discussed below, theentire database, data and functions, may be stored on the flash memorychip. In this regard, each of the flash memory chips may do the actualsearching, as opposed to being done at the host level.

Management of data may involve both defining structures for storinginformation and providing mechanisms for manipulating the information.For example, the management of the data may provide users with anabstract view of the data. That is, the database system may hide certaindetails of how the data are stored and maintained. Thereby, data may bestored in complex data structures that permit efficient retrieval, yetusers may see a simplified and easy-to-use view of the data. In order toaccomplish this, different levels of abstraction may be used. Forexample, the lowest level of abstraction may be the physical level andmay describe how the data are actually stored and details the datastructures. The next-higher level of abstraction may be the logicallevel and may describe what data are stored, and what relationshipsexist among those data. The highest level of abstraction may be the viewlevel and may describe parts of the database that are relevant to eachuser; application programs used to access a database may, for example,form part of the view level.

The overall structure of the database may be referred to as the databaseschema. The schema may specify data, data relationships, data semantics,and consistency constraints on the data. Underlying the structure of adatabase is the logical data model, which may comprise a collection ofconceptual tools for describing the schema.

One type of data model is the entity-relationship data model, which isbased on a collection of basic objects, called entities, and ofrelationships among these objects. An entity is a “thing” or “object” inthe real world that is distinguishable from other objects. Arelationship is an association among several entities. Other types ofmodels include, without limitation, the object-oriented model, therecord-based model, and the relational model.

Logically, data in a relational database may be organized as a set ofrelations, with each relation consisting of a set of records. This isthe view given to database users. The underlying implementation on thememory device, such as the SSD, may be hidden from the user and maycomprise a set of files. Each file comprises of a set of fixed-sizepieces of disk storage, called blocks. Records of a relation are storedwithin blocks. Each relation may be associated with one or more files.Generally a file contains records from only one relation, butorganizations where a file contains records from more than one relationare also used for performance reasons.

One way to retrieve a desired record in a relational database is toperform a scan on the corresponding relation; a scan fetches all therecords from the relation, one at a time. As discussed above, in oneembodiment, the SSD is composed of multiple flash memory chips, such asflash memory chip 0 (210) and flash memory chip N (216). The host system100 may send a command to the SSD 200 to perform a scan. The scan may befor all data stored within the SSD 200, or may be for a subset of datastored within the SSD 200 (such as one or more LBA ranges). As discussedin more detail below, the SSD controller chip 202 may determine whichflash memory chip(s) to send the command to. In the example where thescan is for all data stored within the SSD 200, the SSD controller chip202 may send the command to each of the flash memory chips forprocessing. In the example where the scan is for a subset of data storedwithin the SSD 200, the SSD controller chip 202 may first determinewhich flash memory chips have the subset of data stored therein (e.g.,determine based on the one or more LBA ranges, what are the physicallocations at which the data is stored) and send the command to only theflash memory chips determined to store the subset of data.

Ordinarily, accessing desired records from a large relation using a scanon the relation may be very time-consuming. However, because the scansmay be performed at the flash memory chip level, data subject to thescan need not be sent off chip, such as outside of the flash memorychip. In this regard, performing the database functions within the SSD,such as within the flash memory chip, may be faster than performing thefunction on the host system.

There may be several examples of data manipulation, such as, withoutlimitation, retrieval, insertion, deletion, and modification ofinformation stored in the database. A data-manipulation language enablesusers to access or manipulate data as organized by the appropriate datamodel. Examples of data-manipulation languages include, withoutlimitation, procedural data-manipulation languages and nonproceduraldata-manipulation languages.

One type of database function may comprise a database query. A databasequery may comprise a command that is sent to the flash memory chiprequesting the retrieval of information from the flash memory chip. Asdiscussed in more detail below, in response to the database query, theflash memory chip may use the ALU in order to search the flash memory inthe flash memory chip in order to generate one or more results. Thedatabase query thus may be used as the way of retrieving informationfrom the flash memory within the flash memory chip.

One or more database languages may be used for the database commands.More specifically, database languages may support both data-definitionand data-manipulation functions. One type of database language is SQL(structured query language), although other database languages arecontemplated. SQL comprises a data definition language and a datamanipulation language. The scope of SQL includes, for example, datainsert, query, update and delete, schema creation and modification, anddata access control.

SQL may use one or more operators in a command. The following is a tableof examples of operators:

Operator Description Example = Equal to Author = ‘Alcott’ < > Not equalto Dept < > ‘Sales’ > Greater than Hire_Date > ‘Jan. 31, 2012’ < Lessthan Bonus <50000.00 >= Greater than or equal Dependents >= 2 <= Lessthan or equal Rate <= 0.05 BETWEEN Between an inclusive Cost BETWEEN100.00 AND range 500.00 LIKE Match a character pattern First_Name LIKE‘Will %’ IN Equal to one of multiple DeptCode IN (101, 103, 209)possible values IS or IS Compare to null Address IS NOT NULL NOT(missing data)

Any one, any combination, or all of the example operators above may beused. Further, other operators are contemplated. The database commandmay be parsed by the flash memory chip processor 304 for the operator.After which, the ALU 306 may be used in order to implement the operator.For example, the database command may include the “BETWEEN” operator.The ALU 306 may be used to determine whether data stored in the flashmemory satisfies the “BETWEEN” command.

As discussed above, the command may comprise a database query. In SQL,the database query may be performed with the declarative SELECTstatement. SELECT retrieves data from one or more tables, orexpressions. Standard SELECT statements have no persistent effects onthe database. Some non-standard implementations of SELECT can havepersistent effects, such as the SELECT INTO syntax that exists in somedatabases.

A query may include a list of columns to be included in the final resultimmediately following the SELECT keyword. An asterisk (“*”) may also beused to specify that the query should return all columns of the queriedtables. SELECT is one statement in SQL, with optional keywords andclauses that include: the FROM clause, which indicates the table(s) fromwhich data is to be retrieved; the WHERE clause, which includes acomparison predicate, which restricts the rows returned by the query;the GROUP BY clause, which is used to project rows having common valuesinto a smaller set of rows; the HAVING clause, which includes apredicate used to filter rows resulting from the GROUP BY clause; andthe ORDER BY clause, which identifies which columns are used to sort theresulting data, and in which direction they should be sorted (optionsare ascending or descending).

As discussed above, SQL may include a Data Manipulation Language (DML).DML may be used to add, update and delete data. For example, INSERT addsrows to an existing table, UPDATE modifies a set of existing table rows,DELETE removes existing rows from a table, and MERGE is used to combinethe data of multiple tables. Further, SQL may include a Data DefinitionLanguage (DDL), which manages table and index structure. Example itemsof DDL include the following statements: CREATE (which creates an object(a table, for example) in the database), ALTER (which modifies thestructure of an existing object in various ways, for example, adding acolumn to an existing table or a constraint, RENAME, DROP (which deletesan object in the database) and TRUNCATE (which deletes all data from atable in a very fast way, deleting the data inside the table and not thetable itself).

Image Processing

Part of the flash memory chip, such as flash memory chip controller 300,may perform one or more image processing functions on data stored in theflash memory. Image processing, such as video processing, istime-consuming partly due to the large amount of data to be transferredinto and out of the flash memory chip. Instead, in-place processingwithin the flash memory chip alleviates this problem.

Image processing may comprise any form of signal processing on an image.Different types of image processing are contemplated. One type comprisesperforming one or more operations on an input image, such as aphotograph or video frame, in order to generate an output that is eitheran image or a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image.Image processing may result in image enhancement (e.g., accentuation, orsharpening, of image features such as boundaries, or contrast to make agraphic display more useful for display & analysis); image restoration(e.g., filtering the observed image to minimize the effect ofdegradations); or image compression (e.g., minimizing the number of bitsrequired to represent an image).

As discussed below, the flash memory chip may receive a command from SSDcontroller chip 202 to perform image processing. The command mayoriginate from host system 100. In response, the flash memory chip, suchas flash memory chip processor 304 executing image processing software316, may perform the image processing and send the results via the SSDcontroller interface 302 to SSD controller chip 202.

File System Functions

The file system is used in order to control how information is stored orretrieved, such as stored or retrieved from SDD 200. More specifically,the structure and logic rules used to manage the groups of informationand their names may be described as a “file system”. A file system maybe viewed as an index or database containing the physical location ofevery piece of data on a hard drive. Examples of file systems include,without limitation, File Allocation Table (FAT) and New Technology FileSystem (NTFS).

Typically, the file system resides on the host system and file systemoperations are performed by the host system. In one embodiment, one,some, or all file system operations may be performed by the SSD, such asthe flash memory chip processor 304 on the flash memory chip controller300. As discussed in more detail below, the flash memory chip processor304 may receive a file system command from the host system (relayed viathe SSD controller chip 202), parse the file system command, and performthe file system command.

File system commands comprise utilities which enable management of filesthat are stored or created. File system commands may be segmented intodifferent levels, such as lower levels of file system commands (e.g.,linking sectors together to form a logical unit) and higher levels offile system commands (e.g., user commands such as creating a directory,moving a file, etc.). Higher level file system commands may be composedof multiple lower level commands. For example, a command to create afile of a certain size may be composed of multiple lower level commands,such as finding free blocks and linking them together to form thecapacity in order to make it appear to the user that the blocks are acontiguous logical unit to the user.

Examples of file system commands include, but are not limited to:copying a file (e.g., cp in Unix); moving a file (e.g., my in Unix);removing a file (e.g., rm in Unix); removing a directory (e.g., rmdir inUnix); making a directory (e.g., mkdir in Unix); renaming a file (e.g.,my in Unix); etc.

In one embodiment, a part of flash memory chip controller 300, such asthe flash memory chip processor 304, is configured to perform operationsresponsive to all file system commands. In an alternate embodiment, apart of flash memory chip controller 300, such as the flash memory chipprocessor 304, is configured to perform operations responsive to asubset (or less than all) of file system commands. For example, theflash memory chip processor 304 may be configured to perform only lowerlevel file system commands.

As discussed above, one or more ALUs may be found in the flash memorychip controller 300. Further, the one or more ALUs may be situated indifferent places within memory chip controller 300. FIGS. 3B-Dillustrate some examples of configurations of ALUs within memory chipcontroller 300. In one embodiment, a single ALU may be present in theflash memory chip controller 300. In an alternate embodiment, multipleALUs may be present in the flash memory chip controller 300.

The number of ALUs in the flash memory chip controller 300 may bedependent on the flash memory array, such as flash memory array 214 or220, illustrated in FIG. 2. In one embodiment, an ALU may be assigned toone, some, or each of the blocks in the flash memory array. In analternate embodiment, an ALU may be assigned to a sub-block construct.For example, an ALU may be assigned to one, some, or each bit line inthe flash memory array. In still an alternate embodiment, an ALU may beassigned to one, some, or each plane in the flash memory array. In thisregard, an ALU may be assigned to different subdivisions or partitionsof the memory cell array.

FIG. 3B is one illustration of a block 322 in the flash memory array.Examples of flash memory array include flash memory array 214 and 220,discussed above. The flash memory array may be composed of multipleblocks. Each block in the flash memory array may be composed of pages.FIG. 3B illustrates page 0 to page M. Data may be read from the block322 using bit lines, such as bit line 0 to bit line L illustrated inFIG. 3B. The bit lines may be electrically connected to bus 324, whichis electrically connected to ALU 326. As discussed above, ALU, such asALU 326, may include mathematical and/or logical functionality. Asmerely one example, ALU 326 may include one or more registers and mayinclude any one, any combination, or all of the following functionality:to determine whether two items of data (such as first data loaded into afirst register and second data loaded into a second register) are equalor whether one item of data is greater than or less than another item ofdata; and to perform addition or subtraction; to shift bits in aregister left or right. As shown in FIG. 3B, ALU 326 is associated withblock 322. In this regard, a respective ALU may be assigned torespective block in the flash memory array. In this regard, a flashmemory array with, for example, 1000 blocks, may include 1000 ALUs, witheach ALU assigned to a respective block. Further, assigning an ALU atthe block level readily enables scalability of the processing within theflash memory array.

FIG. 3C is another illustration of a block 322 in the flash memoryarray. As discussed above, an ALU may be assigned to one, some, or eachbit line in a block. As shown in FIG. 3C, ALU 328 is assigned to each ofthe bit lines in block 322, such as bit line 0 to bit line L. In thisregard, there are L+1 ALUs 328 assigned to each block. A controller maybe used in order to select a specific ALU for processing. As shown inFIG. 3C, controller to select ALU 330 is used. Controller 330 may be apart of flash memory chip controller 300. The arrangement illustrated inFIG. 3C may be used for a single block in the flash memory array of theflash memory chip, multiple blocks in the flash memory array of theflash memory chip, or each of the blocks in the flash memory array ofthe flash memory chip. In the example discussed above in which the flashmemory array includes 1000 blocks, the number of ALUs may comprise1000*(L+1).

FIG. 3D is an example one flash memory bank suitable as one of the flashmemory banks. A bank in the multi-bank flash memory may comprise one ormore integrated circuit chips, where each chip may contain an array ofmemory cells organized into multiple planes. An illustration of a memorybank 340 on a single chip is shown in FIG. 3D. The memory bank 340 ofFIG. 3D shows such planes 350 and 352 for simplicity but a greaternumber of planes, such as four or eight planes, may instead be used.Alternatively, the memory cell array of a memory bank may not be dividedinto planes. When so divided, however, each plane has its own columncontrol circuits 354 and 356 that are operable independently of eachother. The circuits 354 and 356 receive addresses of their respectivememory cell array from the address portion 346 of the system bus 342,and decode them to address a specific one or more of respective bitlines 358 and 360. The wordlines 362 are addressed through row controlcircuits 364 in response to addresses received on the address bus.Source voltage control circuits 366 and 368 are also connected with therespective planes, as are p-well voltage control circuits 370 and 372.If the bank 340 is in the form of a memory chip with a single array ofmemory cells, and if two or more such chips exist in the memory system,the array of each chip may be operated similarly to a plane within themulti-plane chip described above.

Data are transferred into and out of the planes 350 and 352 throughrespective data input/output circuits 374 and 376 that are connectedwith the data portion 344 of the system bus 342. The circuits 374 and376 provide for both programming data into the memory cells and forreading data from the memory cells of their respective planes, throughlines 378 and 380 connected to the planes through respective columncontrol circuits 354 and 356.

Each memory chip in each bank contains some controlling circuitry thatexecutes commands from the processor, such as flash memory chipprocessor 304, to perform such functions. Interface circuits 381 areconnected to the control and status portion 348 of the system bus 342.Commands from the processor, such as flash memory chip processor 304,are provided to a state machine 382 that then provides specific controlof other circuits in order to execute these commands. Control lines383-387 connect the state machine 382 with these other circuits as shownin FIG. 3D. Status information from the state machine 382 iscommunicated over lines 388 to the interface 381 for transmission to theprocessor, such as flash memory chip processor 304, over the bus portion348. The memory cell arrays 350 and 352 may be composed of NANDarchitecture, although other non-volatile memory architectures ortechnologies, alone or combination, such as NOR, can be used instead.

As illustrated in FIG. 3D, an ALU may be assigned to each plane in thememory cell array, such as ALU1 (389) assigned to plane 350 and ALU2(390) assigned to plane 352. Each ALU may be electrically connected torespective input/output circuits, such as input/output circuits 374 and376. In this regard, an ALU may be assigned to a respective plane in thememory cell array, and may be in communication with a respectiveinput/output circuit in order to control the respective ALU.

FIG. 3E illustrates a block diagram of one example of an SSD controllerchip, illustrated as SSD controller chip 392. As discussed above, theSSD may include one or more controller chips in order to communicatewith the host system on one side and communicate with the flash memorychips resident in the SSD on the other side. SSD controller chip 392includes a host system interface 204, discussed above with respect toFIG. 2. SSD controller chip 392 further includes SSD controller chipprocessor 393, SSD controller memory 394 and flash memory chip interface396. SSD controller memory 394 may include one or more software programsor code for execution by SSD controller chip processor 393.

As discussed above, in one embodiment, SSD controller chip 392 isconfigured to assist the flash memory chip controller, such asillustrated in FIG. 3A, to perform mathematical and/or logicalcomputations. In this regard, SSD controller memory 394 includessoftware for command analysis and flash chip selection 395. When SSDcontroller chip processor 393 executes the software for command analysisand flash chip selection 395, the SSD controller chip 392 may further beconfigured to analyze commands received from the host system and sendthe commands to one or more of the flash memory chips. As discussed inmore detail below, the SSD controller chip processor 393 may parse thecommand, determine one or more LBA ranges within the command, determinewhich flash memory chips store data within the LBA ranges in thecommand, and forward the command to the flash memory chips.

As discussed above, multiple devices within the SSD may includemathematical computational functionality and/or logic functionality.FIGS. 4A-B shows examples of the mathematical computationalfunctionality and/or logic functionality in the flash memory chipcontroller 400 and the SSD controller chip, respectively. For example,flash memory chip controller 400 may include ALU 306, counter 308, andFPU 310, as discussed above with respect to FIG. 3A. Likewise, flashmemory chip controller may include memory 312. Memory 312 may includesoftware related to database operations, image processing, and filesystem operations. As another example, SSD controller chip 450 mayinclude ALU 454, counter 456, and FPU 458 resident in SSD controllerchip processor 452. ALU 454, counter 456, and FPU 458 may be similar toALU 304, counter 308, and FPU 310, respectively, discussed above.

In one implementation, a plurality of functions may be performed. Forexample, database functions may include a set of database functions,image processing functions may include a set of image processingfunctions, and file system functions may include a set of file systemfunctions. The set of functions may be divided so that a first set offunctions may be performed by the SSD controller chip 450 and a secondset of functions may be performed by the flash memory chip controller400.

In one embodiment, higher-level functions (or more complex functions)may be performed by SSD controller chip 450 and lower-level functions(or less complex functions) may be performed by the flash memory chipcontroller 400. For example, flash memory chip processor 304 may accesslower-level database functions software 402, lower-level imageprocessing software 404, or lower-level file system software 406 inorder to perform lower-level functions for database functions, imageprocessing, or file system functions, respectively. As another example,SSD controller chip processor 452 may access higher-level databasefunctions software 462, higher-level image processing software 464, orhigher-level file system software 466 in SSD controller memory 460 inorder to perform higher-level functions for database operations, imageprocessing, or file system operations, respectively. As discussed above,in order to perform one, some, or all of the functions in the set offunctions (such as the set of database functions, image processingfunctions and file system functions), a part of the SSD, such as flashmemory chip processor 304 or SSD controller chip processor 452, may usemathematical and/or logical operations, such as by using ALU, counter,and/or FPU.

In operation, SSD controller chip 450 and flash memory chip controller400 may operate in a master-slave arrangement in which SSD controllerchip 450 commands flash memory chip controller 400 to perform one ormore actions, such as to perform lower-level database functions,lower-level image processing functions, or lower-level file systemfunctions, as discussed above. In one example, SSD controller chip 450may receive a communication from the host device (such as receiving acommand from host system 100). In response to receiving thecommunication (such as receiving a command), SSD controller chip 450 maydetermine the function(s), such as lower-level or higher-levelfunctions, responsive to the command. SSD controller chip 450 maydetermine which functions are to be performed by SSD controller chip 450and which functions are to be performed by flash memory chip controller400. As one example, a command may comprise a database command. SSDcontroller chip 450, such as SSD controller chip processor 452, mayanalyze the database command and determine: (i) one or more higher-leveldatabase functions are to be performed in response to receiving thedatabase command; (ii) one or more lower-level database functions are tobe performed in response to receiving the database command; or (iii) oneor more higher-level database functions and one or more lower-leveldatabase functions are to be performed in response to receiving thedatabase command. In (i), SSD controller chip processor 452 may performall of the higher-level database functions. For example, SSD controllerchip processor 452 may determine, for a specific higher-level databasefunction, the mathematical and/or logical operations necessary in orderto perform the specific higher-level database function. In (ii), SSDcontroller chip processor 452, responsive to determining a lower-levelfunction needs to be performed, determine which flash memory chips needto perform the lower-level function, and then send a command to thedetermined flash memory chips instructing them to perform thelower-level database function. In (iii), SSD controller chip processor452 may perform all of the higher-level database functions and SSDcontroller chip processor 452 may instruct flash memory chip controller400 to perform all of the lower-level database functions.

In a specific example, a higher-level database function may include oneor more lower-level database functions. In this regard, SSD controllerchip processor 452 may instruct flash memory chip controller 400 toperform the one or more lower-level database functions and return theresults of performing the one or more lower-level database functions toSSD controller chip processor 452.

Division of the functions based on higher-level functions beingperformed by SSD controller chip processor 452 and lower-level functionsbeing performed by flash memory chip controller 400 is one example ofhierarchy-type division of functions. Other hierarchy-type divisions offunctions between the SSD controller chip processor 452 and flash memorychip controller 400 are contemplated.

Below are some examples of higher-level and lower-level functions fordatabases, image processing and file systems. The examples are forillustration purposes only. Other examples are contemplated. With regardto database functions, an example of a lower-level function is a searchcommand for a particular entry and an example of a higher-level functionis concatenating two sequences. In practice, SSD controller chipprocessor 452 may instruct flash memory chip controller 400 on one,some, or all of the flash memory chips (such as memory chip 0 (120) tomemory chip N (126)) to search for the particular entry. Because thecommand may be performed in parallel at the flash memory chip level, thelower-level function of searching for the particular entry may beperformed more quickly.

With regard to image processing, an example of a lower-level function ischanging pixel values and an example of a higher-level function isincreasing the contrast in an image. In practice, because performing thehigher-level function of increasing the contrast includes thelower-level function of changing pixel values, SSD controller chipprocessor 452 may determine which pixels to change in order to increasethe contrast, and thereafter instruct flash memory chip controller 400In practice, SSD controller chip processor 452 may instruct flash memorychip controller 400, on one, some, or all of the flash memory chips thatstore the pixel values to be changed, to perform the function ofchanging the pixel values.

With regard to file system functions, examples of a lower-levelfunctions include searching for a pointer, finding the beginning/end offile, and removing the content of the file. Examples of higher-levelfunctions include deleting a file and opening a file. In practice,deleting a file (a higher-level function) includes one or morelower-level functions. In this regard, in response to the SSD controllerchip processor 452 receiving a command to delete a file, the SSDcontroller chip 452 may determine in which flash memory chip(s) the fileis stored, and send the lower-level commands to the flash memory chip(s)that are storing the file. Thus, the flash memory chips perform thelower-level commands to delete the file.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of another example of an SSDcontroller chip, illustrated as SSD controller chip 500. As discussedabove, one or more flash memory chips may include mathematicalcomputational functionality and/or logic functionality. In an alternateembodiment, SSD controller may include mathematical computationalfunctionality and/or logic functionality. In this regard, allmathematical computational functionality and/or logic functionalityattributed to the flash memory chips with regard to FIG. 3A may be, inthe present embodiment, attributed to the SSD controller. The SSDcontroller may comprise an SSD controller chip 500, such as illustratedin FIG. 5. SSD controller chip 500 includes a host system interface 204,discussed above with respect to FIG. 2. Further, SSD controller chip 500includes SSD controller chip processor 502, which includes ALU 504,counter 506, and FPU 508. ALU 504, counter 506, and FPU 508 is similarto ALU 306, counter 308, and FPU 310 resident in flash memory chipcontroller 300 except resident within SSD controller chip 500. Further,SSD controller chip 500 includes SSD controller memory 510. SSDcontroller memory 510 includes database operations software 512, imageprocessing software 514, and file system software 516, which enables theSSD controller to perform database operations, image processing, andfile system operations, such as discussed above.

In operation, SSD controller chip 500 may receive a communication fromthe host system, with the communication including a command and one ormore LBA ranges. In response, SSD controller chip 500 may determine thefunction(s) responsive to the command. The functions may includeperforming one or more mathematical or logical operations on data storedat the one or more LBA ranges. Based on the one or more LBA ranges, theSSD controller chip 500 may determine the physical addresses of thedata, send a request for the data, using the physical addresses, fromthe flash memory chips, and perform the operation(s) on the datareturned from the flash memory chips.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart 600 of actions performed by a part of aflash memory chip, such as flash memory chip controller 300. At 602, acommunication is received from the SSD controller. At 604, thecommunication is parsed for a command. As discussed above, the flashmemory chip controller 300 may receive different types of commands. Thecommands may relate to different functions, including withoutlimitation, database management functions, image processing functions,and/or file system functions. At 606, one or more operations aredetermined based on the parsed command. For example, the flash memorychip controller 300 may parse the communication for the command in orderto identify the command. The flash memory chip controller 300 may thencorrelate the identified command with one or more operations, such asone or more mathematical or logical operations. More specifically, theflash memory chip controller 300 may parse the communication andidentify that the command is a schema search command. Using a look-uptable which correlates commands to operations, the flash memory chipcontroller 300 may use the identified schema search command to determinewhich operation(s) the flash memory chip controller 300 is to perform.The operation(s) may comprise one or more mathematical operations thatuse ALU 306, counter 308, or FPU 310.

At 608, the one or more identified operations are performed in order togenerate one or more results. As discussed above, an operation maycomprise using an ALU (or other mathematical or logical device). In oneaspect, the ALU may use one or more operand registers to perform themathematical or logical operation. The flash memory chip controller 300may designate a part of memory as the operand register(s) and load datainto the operand register(s). For example, the flash memory chipcontroller 300 may load one or more pages into DDC and performmathematical and/or logic functionality on part or all of the loadedpages. The use of the ALU may generate the one or more results, whichmay be stored in a part of the flash memory.

At 610, the one or more results (or an indication of the one or moreresults) may optionally be sent to the SSD controller, which may in turnsend the results (or the indication of the results) to the host system.For example, the command may comprise an image processing command. TheALU may perform image processing generating results, which may be storedin the flash memory. Optionally, the results generated from the imageprocessing may be sent to the SSD controller. In the example of an imageprocessing command sent from the host system and forwarded by the SSDcontroller, the flash memory chip may send the results of performing theimage processing to the host system via the SSD controller. In theexample of a file system command, the flash memory chip may perform thefile system command and send an indication of the results (such as anindication that the file system command was performed successfully).

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart 700 of actions performed by a part of aflash memory chip, such as SSD controller chip 392. At 702, acommunication is received from the host system. At 704, thecommunication is parsed to determine whether the communication is fortransmission to one or more of the flash memory chips. For example,certain communications from the host system may indicate a function forthe SSD controller to perform. As another example, other communicationsfrom the host system may indicate a function for the flash memory chipsto perform (such as image processing, database management operations, orfile system operations). In the latter instance, the SSD controller mayforward a part or all of the communication to the flash memory chips. At706, it is determined which flash memory chips to transmit thecommunication to. As discussed above, the communication may include oneor more LBA ranges. The SSD controller may be configured to translatethe one or more LBA ranges into physical addresses. In turn, a look-uptable, correlating physical addresses to flash memory chips, mayindicate which flash memory chips may indicate which flash memory chipsto send the communication to based on the physical addresses. At 708,part or all of the communication is transmitted to the flash memorychips.

Semiconductor memory devices, such as discussed with respect to FIGS.1-5, may include volatile memory devices, such as dynamic random accessmemory (“DRAM”) or static random access memory (“SRAM”) devices,non-volatile memory devices, such as resistive random access memory(“ReRAM”), electrically erasable programmable read only memory(“EEPROM”), flash memory (which can also be considered a subset ofEEPROM), ferroelectric random access memory (“FRAM”), andmagnetoresistive random access memory (“MRAM”), and other semiconductorelements capable of storing information. Furthermore, each type ofmemory device may have different configurations. For example, flashmemory devices may be configured in a NAND or a NOR configuration.

The memory devices can be formed from passive and/or active elements, inany combinations. By way of non-limiting example, passive semiconductormemory elements include ReRAM device elements, which in some embodimentsinclude a resistivity switching storage element, such as an anti-fuse,phase change material, etc., and optionally a steering element, such asa diode, etc. Further by way of non-limiting example, activesemiconductor memory elements include EEPROM and flash memory deviceelements, which in some embodiments include elements containing a chargestorage region, such as a floating gate, conductive nanoparticles or acharge storage dielectric material.

Multiple memory elements may be configured so that they are connected inseries or such that each element is individually accessible. By way ofnon-limiting example, NAND devices contain memory elements (e.g.,devices containing a charge storage region) connected in series. Forexample, a NAND memory array may be configured so that the array iscomposed of multiple strings of memory in which each string is composedof multiple memory elements sharing a single bit line and accessed as agroup. In contrast, memory elements may be configured so that eachelement is individually accessible, e.g., a NOR memory array. One ofskill in the art will recognize that the NAND and NOR memoryconfigurations are exemplary, and memory elements may be otherwiseconfigured.

The semiconductor memory elements of a single device, such as elementslocated within and/or over the same substrate or in a single die, may bedistributed in two or three dimensions, such as a two dimensional arraystructure or a three dimensional array structure.

In a two dimensional memory structure, the semiconductor memory elementsare arranged in a single plane or single memory device level. Typically,in a two dimensional memory structure, memory elements are located in aplane (e.g., in an x-z direction plane) which extends substantiallyparallel to a major surface of a substrate that supports the memoryelements. The substrate may be a wafer over which the layers of thememory elements are deposited and/or in which memory elements are formedor it may be a carrier substrate which is attached to the memoryelements after they are formed.

The memory elements may be arranged in the single memory device level inan ordered array, such as in a plurality of rows and/or columns.However, the memory elements may be arranged in non-regular ornon-orthogonal configurations as understood by one of skill in the art.The memory elements may each have two or more electrodes or contactlines, such as bit lines and word lines.

A three dimensional memory array is organized so that memory elementsoccupy multiple planes or multiple device levels, forming a structure inthree dimensions (i.e., in the x, y and z directions, where the ydirection is substantially perpendicular and the x and z directions aresubstantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate).

As a non-limiting example, each plane in a three dimensional memoryarray structure may be physically located in two dimensions (one memorylevel) with multiple two dimensional memory levels to form a threedimensional memory array structure. As another non-limiting example, athree dimensional memory array may be physically structured as multiplevertical columns (e.g., columns extending substantially perpendicular tothe major surface of the substrate in the y direction) having multipleelements in each column and therefore having elements spanning severalvertically stacked memory planes. The columns may be arranged in a twodimensional configuration, e.g., in an x-z plane, thereby resulting in athree dimensional arrangement of memory elements. One of skill in theart will understand that other configurations of memory elements inthree dimensions will also constitute a three dimensional memory array.

By way of non-limiting example, in a three dimensional NAND memoryarray, the memory elements may be connected together to form a NANDstring within a single horizontal (e.g., x-z) plane. Alternatively, thememory elements may be connected together to extend through multiplehorizontal planes. Other three dimensional configurations can beenvisioned wherein some NAND strings contain memory elements in a singlememory level while other strings contain memory elements which extendthrough multiple memory levels. Three dimensional memory arrays may alsobe designed in a NOR configuration and in a ReRAM configuration.

A monolithic three dimensional memory array is one in which multiplememory levels are formed above and/or within a single substrate, such asa semiconductor wafer. In a monolithic three dimensional array thelayers of each level of the array are formed on the layers of eachunderlying level of the array. One of skill in the art will understandthat layers of adjacent levels of a monolithic three dimensional memoryarray may be shared or have intervening layers between memory levels. Incontrast, two dimensional arrays may be formed separately and thenpackaged together to form a non-monolithic memory device. For example,non-monolithic stacked memories have been constructed by forming memorylevels on separate substrates and adhering the memory levels atop eachother. The substrates may be thinned or removed from the memory levelsbefore bonding, but as the memory levels are initially formed overseparate substrates, such memories are not monolithic three dimensionalmemory arrays. Further, multiple two dimensional memory arrays or threedimensional memory arrays (monolithic or non-monolithic) may be formedseparately and then packaged together to form a stacked-chip memorydevice.

One of skill in the art will recognize that this invention is notlimited to the two dimensional and three dimensional exemplarystructures described but cover all relevant memory structures within thespirit and scope of the invention as described herein and as understoodby one of skill in the art.

Further, the present disclosure describes various functions, which maybe implemented in hardware, in software, or in a combination of hardwareand software. In one embodiment, the functions may be implemented usingone or more sets of instructions, e.g. software, which may be embedded.Further, the instructions may perform one or more of the methods orlogic as described herein, such as illustrated in FIGS. 6-7. Theinstructions may reside in various parts of the system. For example, theinstructions may reside in the SSD controller chip (see FIGS. 3A, 3E, 5)and/or in the flash memory chip (such as the flash memory chipcontroller, see FIGS. 4A-B).

The instructions may be embodied in a computer-readable medium. Thecomputer-readable medium may be a single medium, or thecomputer-readable medium may be a single medium or multiple media, suchas a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches andservers that store one or more sets of instructions. The term“computer-readable medium” may also include any medium that may becapable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions forexecution by a processor or that may cause a computer system to performany one or more of the methods or operations disclosed herein.

The computer-readable medium may include a solid-state memory such as amemory card or other package that houses one or more non-volatileread-only memories. The computer-readable medium also may be a randomaccess memory or other volatile re-writable memory. Additionally, thecomputer-readable medium may include a magneto-optical or opticalmedium, such as a disk or tapes or other storage device to capturecarrier wave signals such as a signal communicated over a transmissionmedium. A digital file attachment to an e-mail or other self-containedinformation archive or set of archives may be considered a distributionmedium that may be a tangible storage medium. The computer-readablemedium is preferably a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, thedisclosure may be considered to include any one or more of acomputer-readable medium or a distribution medium and other equivalentsand successor media, in which data or instructions may be stored.

Alternatively or in addition, dedicated hardware implementations, suchas application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arraysand other hardware devices, may be constructed to implement one or moreof the methods described herein. Applications that may include theapparatus and systems of various embodiments may broadly include avariety of electronic and computer systems. One or more embodimentsdescribed herein may implement functions using two or more specificinterconnected hardware modules or devices with related control and datasignals that may be communicated between and through the modules, or asportions of an application-specific integrated circuit. Accordingly, thepresent system may encompass software, firmware, and hardwareimplementations.

The illustrations described herein are intended to provide a generalunderstanding of the structure of various embodiments. The illustrationsare not intended to serve as a complete description of all of theelements and features of apparatus, processors, and systems that utilizethe structures or methods described herein. Many other embodiments maybe apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the disclosure.Other embodiments may be utilized and derived from the disclosure, suchthat structural and logical substitutions and changes may be madewithout departing from the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, theillustrations are merely representational and may not be drawn to scale.Certain proportions within the illustrations may be exaggerated, whileother proportions may be minimized. Accordingly, the disclosure and thefigures are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

The above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, andnot restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all suchmodifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall withinthe true spirit and scope of the description. Thus, to the maximumextent allowed by law, the scope is to be determined by the broadestpermissible interpretation of the following claims and theirequivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoingdetailed description.

What is claimed is:
 1. A solid state device (SSD) controller comprising:an arithmetic logic unit (ALU); wherein the SSD controller is configuredto: receive a write command from a host device, the write commandcomprising one or more values; in response to receiving the writecommand, send a write instruction to one or more memory chips incommunication with the SSD controller in order for the one or morememory chips to store the one or more values in memory within the one ormore memory chips; receive a command from the host device; in responseto receiving the command, send an instruction to the one or more memorychips, the instruction indicative to the one or more memory chips to usemathematical computation functionality or logic functionality on the oneor more values previously stored in the memory in order to generate oneor more results; and receive from the one or more memory chips at leasta part of the one or more results or an indication of the one or moreresults.
 2. The SSD controller of claim 1, wherein the SSD controller isconfigured to use the ALU to perform a first set of functions; andwherein the instruction sent to the one or more memory chips isconfigured to instruct the one or more memory chips to use a second setof functions.
 3. The SSD controller of claim 2, wherein the first set offunctions comprises higher-level functions; and wherein the second setof functions comprises lower-level functions.
 4. The SSD controller ofclaim 3, wherein the SSD controller is further configured to: review thecommand received from the host device; determine one or more lower-levelfunctions to perform responsive to the received command; and determinewhich of the one or more memory chips to send an instruction to performthe determined one or more lower-level functions; wherein the SSDcontroller is configured to send the instruction by sending to thedetermined one or more memory chips the instruction to perform thedetermined one or more lower-level functions on the one or more valuesstored in the memory.
 5. The SSD controller of claim 3, wherein thefirst set of functions comprise at least one of database functions,image processing functions, or file system functions.
 6. The SSDcontroller of claim 1, wherein the command from the host devicecomprises a search command; wherein, responsive to receipt of the searchcommand, the SSD controller is configured to send a search instructionto the one or more memory chips, the search instruction being indicativeto the one or more memory chips to determine whether the one or morevalues stored in the memory match the data value in order to generatethe one or more results responsive to the search command.
 7. The SSDcontroller of claim 6, wherein, responsive to receipt of the searchcommand from the host device, the SSD controller is configured todetermine one or more higher-level functions and one or more lower-levelfunctions, at least one of the one or more lower-level functionscomprises the search instruction; wherein the one or more higher-levelfunctions are different from the one or more lower-level functions;wherein the SSD controller is further configured to perform the one ormore higher-level functions; and wherein the SSD controller isconfigured to command the one or more memory chips to perform the one ormore lower-level functions.
 8. The SSD controller of claim 1, wherein,responsive to receipt, from the host device, of a mathematicalcomputation command indicative to perform a mathematical computation,the SSD controller is configured to determine memory locations in thememory of a respective memory integrated circuit chip to perform themathematical computation; and wherein, responsive to determining thememory locations in the memory of a respective memory integrated circuitchip to perform the mathematical computation, the SSD controller isconfigured to send an indication of the mathematical computation to therespective memory integrated circuit chip.
 9. The SSD controller ofclaim 8, wherein the mathematical computation command comprises an imageprocessing command.
 10. The SSD controller of claim 1, wherein thecommand comprises a file system command.
 11. The SSD controller of claim1, wherein the command comprises an image processing command.
 12. TheSSD controller of claim 1, further comprising an interface tocommunicate with the one or more memory chips.
 13. A method foroperating a solid state drive (SSD) controller, the SSD controllercomprising an SSD controller arithmetic logic unit (ALU), the methodcomprising: receiving, via an interface configured to communicate with ahost device, a write command, the write command comprising one or morevalues; responsive to receiving the write command, instructing a memorychip to store the one or more values in a memory of the memory chip;receiving a command from the host device; in response to receiving thecommand, sending an instruction to the memory chip, the instructionindicative to the memory chip to use mathematical computationfunctionality or logic functionality of the controller on the one ormore values previously stored in the memory in order to generate one ormore results; and receiving from the memory chip at least a part of theone or more results or an indication of the one or more results.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising using, by the SSD controller, theALU to perform a first set of functions; and wherein the instructionsent to the memory chip is configured to instruct the memory chip to usea second set of functions.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the firstset of functions comprises higher-level functions; and wherein thesecond set of functions comprises lower-level functions.
 16. The methodof claim 15, further comprising: review the command received from thehost device; determine one or more lower-level functions to performresponsive to the received command; and determine which memory chip tosend an instruction to perform the determined one or more lower-levelfunctions; wherein sending the instruction comprises sending to thedetermined memory chip the instruction to perform the determined one ormore lower-level functions on the one or more values stored in thememory.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the first set of functionscomprise at least one of database functions, image processing functions,or file system functions.
 18. The method of claim 13, wherein thecommand from the host device comprises a search command; wherein,responsive to receipt of the search command, sending a searchinstruction to the memory chip, the search instruction being indicativeto the memory chip to determine whether the one or more values stored inthe memory match the data value in order to generate the one or moreresults responsive to the search command.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein, responsive to receipt of the search command from the hostdevice, determining, by the SSD controller, one or more higher-levelfunctions and one or more lower-level functions, at least one of the oneor more lower-level functions comprises the search instruction; whereinthe one or more higher-level functions are different from the one ormore lower-level functions; further comprising performing the one ormore higher-level functions; and wherein the instruction is indicativeto the memory chip to perform the one or more lower-level functions. 20.The method of claim 13, wherein, responsive to receipt, from the hostdevice, of a mathematical computation command indicative to perform amathematical computation, determining memory locations in the memory ofa respective memory chip to perform the mathematical computation,wherein the mathematical computation instruction is indicative toperform a mathematical computation; and wherein, responsive todetermining the memory locations in the memory of a respective memorychip to perform the mathematical computation, sending an indication ofthe mathematical computation to the respective memory chip.
 21. Themethod of claim 20, wherein the mathematical computation commandcomprises an image processing command.